Teaching hospital performs first hip surgery

For the first time since its inception, the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) Nnewi has concluded three successful ‘total hip replacement’ operations.

The Chief Medical Director (CMD), Prof Robinson Ofiaeli, who was among the six orthopaedic surgeons that performed the high-tech specialised operations, said the hospital carried out the feat with the assistance of two Indian doctors from Fortis Hospital.

The Indians are Sabhash Jongid and Krishna Chandran, and Dr Chima Ihegihu and two others from NAUTH, with Emzor Hesco Limited, supplying the equipment used for the surgery.

Prof Ofiaeli said: “The hospital will from January 2013 start offering Total Hip Replacement operation on regular basis; just as it would equally start ‘Total Knee Replacement’ operations and equipment has been ordered and would be arrive the country this month.

“We will start offering the operation on regular basis and the next time we will carry out this operation will be in January 2013 and we hope to add ‘Total Knee Replacement’ operation to what we will be doing,” said Ofiaeli.

He said that the two operations constitute more than 60 percent of the reasons why Nigerians travel to other countries of the world for such specialized operations. He noted that the service could be offered at a reduced cost of at least 70 percent.

“Nigerians who travel abroad to get the operation done on them pay as high as N3.5 million, but now it is done in Nnewi, they can only pay 35 per cent of that cost, which is about N1. 05 million, to do it in Nnewi” he said.

He said “one of the benefits Nigerians can get for the service is that the hospital is offering the best quality service to our people. It is the same equipment and implant we are using here nothing less to what is obtained anywhere in the world. They will get three weeks attention after the surgery unlike outside the country”.

”We were initially faced with a lot of technical problems, which we surmounted and the first operation took us one day, while the remaining two were done the same day, it is not an operation a single surgeon can do.

Enumerating some of the achievements recorded in the hospital the CMD said “as you are aware, we are one of the teaching hospitals that received VAMED equipment from the Federal government, the equipment worth over N2billion.

“Am happy to inform you that our Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) equipment is working and our CT scan is also working, barring some little technical problems. So, these two equipments are crucial to accurate diagnosing in many disease conditions and that is another reason why our people fly out to other countries for diagnosing and subsequent treatment,” said Ofiaeli.

Jongid said that Nigerian doctors can hold their own if necessary equipment are provided for them, he commended Prof Ofiaeli and his team for their commitment to ensuring the success of the surgery.